


Mini Moorland

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Childbirth, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-02 03:13:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13309233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Zelda falls pregnant and Justin is the most overprotective father. Zelda belongs to ZDusk and Jack belongs to SSO-Jack-Wolfwatcher.





	Mini Moorland

Most young people, upon discovering that they were pregnant, would probably faint. But for one young Zelda Dusknight, fainting was the furthest thing from her mind. The first thing on her mind, however, was to figure out how to inform the father in the most celebratory and distracting way possible. She didn’t think that he would run- no, Justin was far too good to run away from his pregnant fiancée. But she did worry that he would worry too much. Far too much. He might even insist on a shotgun wedding (which she did not want, she wanted to have one of those romantic weddings out at a winery, thank you very much, and though the Baroness had offered her own winery in an attempt to make up for not keeping in touch with Justin for twenty years, there were some other nice ones that Zelda had been eyeing up).

But the main reason that Zelda wasn’t panicking was because this baby was actually planned. They’d been trying for a baby for months, after Zelda had finally convinced Justin that it would be fine and that they could safely have a baby in this new world. Garnok had been defeated, and now GED and Dark Core were too busy fighting each other to bother with the girl who’d tried to ruin their plans (and had succeeded many times).

As Zelda sat on the couch, mulling over how she would break the news to her fiancé, her phone buzzed with a message. She picked it up, smiling to see Jack’s name.

“Burgs and I are going exploring with Liv and Dizz, you up for it?” Jack’s message read. Zelda grinned, knowing that soon she would be receiving that text message more often and have to respond in the negative more and more often.

“Not today” Zelda texted back. “Don’t tell anyone because if this gets back to him before I can tell him I swear I’ll end your entire existence but guess who’s gonna be a mum”.

Her phone rang a few seconds later, and Zelda laughed as Jack’s name once again flashed up on the screen.

“Dibs on not babysitting,” said Jack.

“Gee, wow, thanks, I’m glad my best friend is so supportive,” said Zelda. Jack snorted.

“Fine then, congrats,” said Jack. “What do you mean, you haven’t told him yet?”

“I’m trying to figure out how to break the news,” said Zelda. “I want to distract him somehow, so he doesn’t immediately jump into Hyper Protective Mode.”

“Good plan,” said Jack. “Uh, I guess you could just put the pregnancy test on the table or something.”

“Y’know, for a writer, you have zero imagination,” said Zelda. “Why did I ask you again?”

“Alright, sorry,” said Jack. “Just never had to think of it for myself.”

“I know,” said Zelda. “I should probably ask someone else, then.”

“Might be best,” said Jack.

“But you’re the only one who definitely won’t tell him,” said Zelda.

“I dunno, maybe just slide it into conversation?” said Jack. Zelda sighed, closing her eyes.

“At least you’re trying,” said Zelda. “Maybe I should ask Thomas, but he might be just as bad as his son.”

“Probably,” said Jack. “Anyway.” Zelda could hear the smile in his voice. “Thanks for telling me first.”

“Hey, I had to warn my future babysitter,” said Zelda. Jack laughed.

“Fuck off,” said Jack. “You know I hate kids.”

“I know, I was just teasing,” said Zelda with a laugh. “And remember-“

“Keep my yap shut, I know,” said Jack. “Good luck, Z.”

“I’ll let you know when you can tell everyone,” said Zelda, playing with a loose bit of thread on her trousers.

“I think I’ll know because a giant bubble will appear around Moorland Stables,” said Jack. Zelda laughed along with her best friend.

“I’m hanging up now,” said Zelda, and did just that.

Zelda looked through websites on how to announce her pregnancy, and, after cooing over multiple videos that almost had her in tears, she finally found one that she liked.

And so, when Justin walked into the Moorland house later that evening after a long day tending to horses, he found his fiancée reading a baby book. He gasped, immediately dropping the coat that he’d been trying to hang on the coatrack.

“Planning?” asked Justin, disbelief lending a quaver to his voice. Zelda rested her hand on her stomach, beaming at him.

“Oh, you know, just preparing for the next few months,” said Zelda, grinning. Justin gasped and ran to her, falling to his knees in front of her and hugging her around the waist. 

“How long?” asked Justin, looking up at her with tears in his eyes. Zelda reached down, caressing his face.

“I found out this morning,” said Zelda, smiling gently at him. “You’re gonna be a dad, Mr Moorland.”

“Mr Moorland is my father,” said Justin with a laugh. “But wow.” He hugged her just a little tighter, but then pulled away. “I’m not hurting it, am I?” Zelda giggled.

“It’s fine,” said Zelda.

“We should go to see the doctor right now,” said Justin, getting to his feet.

“Oh no you don’t, I knew this would happen,” said Zelda, stopping him. “You’re too big of a worry-wart, everything is going to be fine. I promise.”

Their first hospital visit was a few weeks later, when the morning sickness began. Zelda spent all morning in the bathroom and, when she emerged, Justin drove her to the hospital in Jorvik City.

“What seems to be the problem?” asked the nurse. Zelda rolled her eyes.

“It’s literally just morning sickness, my fiancé is the biggest worrier in Jorvik,” said Zelda.

“Ah,” said the nurse with a laugh. “I assure you that your fiancée is fine, Mr Moorland, it’s as she says, just morning sickness.”

“Are you sure?” asked Justin. “Is there really nothing that you can do to help her?”

“God help you when it comes time to give birth,” the nurse muttered.

“I think he’ll need to be sedated,” said Zelda, getting off the examination table. “Sorry for wasting your time, nurse.”

“It’s fine,” said the nurse with a gentle smile. “Lots of new parents get first-time jitters, it’s perfectly normal.”

“Yeah, he’s just got the worst case of it,” said Zelda.

“Well, my mum did die giving birth to me,” said Justin.

“That’s highly unlikely to happen in this case, medicine has come so far since then, especially midwifery,” said the nurse. “Childbirth mortality rates are the lowest they’ve ever been, especially in a hospital as well-maintained and stocked as this one.”

“I hope so,” said Justin. “If anything else happens, I’ll bring her right back here.”

“No, you’ll trust my gut,” said Zelda. “I don’t want to waste her time or your money on something that’s normal.”

“If there are any issues, they’ll likely present themselves in your ultrasounds,” said the nurse. “But until then, you’ll be fine. Hopefully.”

“Don’t worry, doc, I’m looking after myself and watching what I eat,” said Zelda. “Justin went out and bought loads of groceries and vitamins as soon as he found out, and he threw out everything in the house that had caffeine or alcohol in it.”

“I’m looking after her,” said Justin. “And our unborn child.”

“Aww,” the nurse cooed. “That’s so sweet.” Zelda smiled at Justin, giving him a kiss.

At the first ultrasound, Justin paced the waiting room nervously while the two of them waited for the person who would be conducting the ultrasound. Zelda simply rolled her eyes at him, though she kept her feet up and her hands over her stomach which wasn’t yet beginning to show.

The gel was cold on her stomach, but Zelda’s eyes were glued to the screen, as were Justin’s while he held her hand. Zelda grinned at the sight of the little thing living inside her on the screen. As the heartbeat thundered through the room, Justin started crying, though he was also grinning.

After their appointment, Justin visited his mother’s grave up at Doyle’s Abbey while Zelda hung back.

“Hi, mum,” said Justin, smiling and sniffling. “Um, so remember how I said I was going to be a dad? Z had her first ultrasound today, and I saw our baby for the first time.” He sniffed, wiping away tears, and held up a photo of the ultrasound. “It just looks like this right now, but I know that it’s going to get bigger. And stronger. I wonder if you- if you ever had that moment. Did they even have ultrasounds back then? I guess they did, huh? And I heard its heartbeat, and it’s just so real now.” Zelda wiped away tears of her own, sniffling as Justin told his mother about everything that had been going on. She knew that Justin would bring their baby out here when it was born, but she didn’t mind. When they left, Justin left the ultrasound picture on his mother’s grave, pinning it there with a small rock.

Back at home, Justin made sure that Zelda didn’t have to lift a finger. He even did all of the housework and all of the cooking (which was fine, since Justin was a great cook), but he at least let Zelda go to the bathroom on her own.

When Zelda finally began to show, Justin started resting his head on her stomach. Just gently, just so he could connect with their baby. Zelda couldn’t stop grinning when he did that, tears brimming in her eyes that were probably partly from the hormones. And he talked to it, too, though the first was rather morbid.

“Don’t kill your mum, okay?” Justin murmured, his lips almost touching her stomach. “I know the nurse said that you probably won’t, but just take it easy on her, okay? I love her so much, more than the world, and I can’t lose her.”

“It’ll be fine, Justin,” Zelda murmured, her eyes half-lidded. “I did so many amazing things, giving birth will be a cakewalk.”

“But I’ve been looking up-“ Justin began, and Zelda cut him off.

“I am confiscating your laptop and your phone, effective immediately,” said Zelda. “You have lost your right to access the internet.”

“I’m just trying to be careful and informed,” said Justin. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“It won’t,” said Zelda. “I promise.”

“I hope not,” said Justin. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Zelda, and I can’t lose you.” Zelda smiled and pulled him up to kiss him, wrapping her arms around him.

“I’m not going anywhere,” said Zelda.

Justin was even more unbearable at the antenatal classes, if only because he now had more people to share his concerns with.

“I heard that birth will result in a lot of blood loss,” said Justin to a young man who was looking more and more concerned. The man’s partner also looked quite pale.

“Justin, I swear to god,” Zelda whispered. She got up and waddled over to him, pulling him away from the frightened couple.

“I just thought I should share my concerns,” said Justin, looking confused. Zelda sighed.

“Well, you’re only making them worry,” said Zelda.

“They should know,” said Justin.

“No, they should do their research and not immediately jump to the worst conclusions,” said Zelda. “Like I did. Like you didn’t do.”

“Well, I’m sorry I worry about you,” said Justin. Zelda sighed, hugging him.

“I know it’s just because you care,” said Zelda. “But you’re kind of getting on my nerves.”

“I know,” said Justin. “Sorry. I won’t stress you out with my worries.”

“You’d better not,” said Zelda.

The only good part about Justin being so overprotective was that he was very attentive. He knew when Zelda needed something, when she couldn’t sleep because their baby (a girl, they’d learned, and Justin had cried again but Zelda had cried when Justin told her he wanted to name her Catherine) kicked too much, when she was lacking a certain vitamin.

But, no matter how attentive he was, only Zelda knew when it was time to give birth.

“The baby is coming,” said Zelda, holding her aching stomach as she stood in the bathroom doorway.

“Oh my god, okay Justin, don’t panic, do we go to the hospital now or call an ambulance or what do we do what do we do?” said Justin, his voice growing more frantic as he spoke, wringing his hands together. Even with the pain, Zelda laughed.

“So much for being ultra prepared,” said Zelda, and then she winced as a contraction gripped her. “But seriously, drive me to the hospital.”

“O-okay, okay, I’ll just- keys, where are my keys, oh my god,” said Justin, trembling so violently that he dropped his keys.

“Yeah, I’m gonna phone a friend to help with this,” said Zelda. Part of her worried that she wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation, what with her contractions, but a text message would likely go unread.

“Hello?” said Louisa, answering the phone rather quickly.

“Hey Burgs, I need someone to drive me and Justin to the hospital,” said Zelda. “I’m in labour and Justin is freaking out.”

“Is it like in Sims?” asked Louisa. Zelda grimaced at another contraction.

“It’s exactly like in Sims,” said Zelda. “Hurry up.” She smiled as she ended the call, watching Justin still running around like, well, a panicking Sim.

“How are you so calm?” Justin shouted, seeing Louisa arrive in her station wagon.

“Because I know that Z will be fine,” said Louisa with a shrug. She had the decency not to laugh at Justin freaking out, instead opening the car doors and sliding the passenger seat as far forward as it would go. “In you go, my darling Z.” Justin helped Zelda over to the car, and Zelda slid gingerly into the backseat, settling her hands onto her stomach while Justin clipped her in.

“Alright, let’s go,” said Justin, sitting beside Zelda and holding her hand. “Remember your breathing.”

“I will,” said Zelda.

Justin was sedated after three hours of frantic pacing. He sat in a chair outside the maternity ward, his eyes glazed over and his muscles slack. His knee jerked every time he heard Zelda give a particularly loud scream of pain. His fingers curled in his anxiety, and he bit his bottom lip that had already been almost chewed to pieces by his earlier worry.

“Mr Moorland, you can come in now,” said the midwife, leaning out the door after too long. Justin nodded, the sedative wearing off as he surged to his feet and hurried through the doors. Zelda looked a mess, her hair everywhere, her face red and shiny with sweat. She panted, giving a moan of pain.

“You’re almost there, Zelda, just one more push,” said the midwife. Zelda sucked in a deep breath, casting her eyes around the room. When they landed on Justin, she gestured him over with her hand. Justin went to her, taking her hand. He yelped when she crushed it in her grip.

It only took a few more pushes but finally, the cry of an infant pierced the air and Zelda’s head fell back on the pillows as she panted, closing her eyes.

“Is she okay?” asked Justin, frantically looking from her to the many nurses clustered around.

“Yes, the baby and Zelda are both okay,” said the midwife, checking Zelda’s blood pressure and heart rate. “Congratulations, the two of you have a healthy baby girl.”

“See, I told you it’d be okay,” Zelda murmured as Justin kissed her face.

The tears returned when Justin held baby Catherine in his arms and named her.

“Welcome to the world, Catherine Zoe Moorland,” said Justin, looking down at the dark-haired infant bundled up in pale blue cloth in his arms. Every part of her was her mother, but she had Justin’s big brown eyes.

“Hey, don’t hog her, let me hold,” said Zelda, and laughed as Justin handed the baby over to her. But she smiled down at their baby, holding the infant in her arms. “I just want to sleep but I can’t stop staring at her.”

“Well, if you do fall asleep, I’ll take her so she doesn’t fall,” said Justin.

“Thank you,” said Zelda, smiling up at him. She closed her eyes, and didn’t mind when Justin gently took Catherine from her arms so she could sleep.


End file.
